Mass Effect: Constitution
by BigTalon256
Summary: My retelling of Shepard's story, starting with Mass Effect 1, or as it'll be called here, Mass Effect Constitution, and will go all the way through to the conclusion of ME3. Feedback is always appreciated, as I'm a bit rusty. Contain's hints of M!Shep/Tali and Kaidan/Ash. Cover art made by TidyWire over at DeviantArt, so thanks to him!
1. Prologue: Eden Prime

"Well, what about Shepard? Lived aboard starships most of his life." Udina asked, glancing at the two.

"Military service runs in the family; both his parents were in the Alliance Navy. He's a soldier through and through." Captain Anderson added.

"He proved himself during the blitz. Held off enemy forces on the ground until reinforcements arrived; He's the only reason Elysium is still standing. We can't question his courage." Hackett said, giving the service records back to Udina.

"..It says here his father was killed during a raid against Cerberus; he could have emotional scars." Udina said, sending a glance Anderson's way.

" _All_ soldiers have scars, Shepard's no different." Anderson argued.

"Do we really want someone like that protecting the galaxy?" Udina pressed on.

"Humanity needs a hero. And Shepard's the best we've got." Anderson said, ending the conversation.

After giving a quiet sigh, Udina replied "I'll make the call then."

In the year 2148, explorers on Mars discovered the remains of an ancient spacefaring civilization. In the decades that followed, these mysterious artifacts revealed startling new technologies, enabling travels to the furthest stars. The basis for this incredible technology was a force that controlled the very fabric of space and time.

They called it the greatest discovery of human history.

The civilizations of the galaxy call it…

 **Mass Effect**

* * *

[Normandy; Sol System; On route to Eden Prime]

As the SSV Normandy made it's way to the Arcturus Prime Relay, in turn heading to Eden Prime, Commander David Shepard moved through the Turian/Human made ship, making his way to the cockpit, being greeted by the crew as he did so.

The commander had heard plenty of things about Humanity's first colony, mostly good things, and was eager to see it. Most of the planets he'd been to he hadn't had enough time for sight seeing, but hopefully he'll have the chance to look around a bit before the mission's over.

As Shepard entered the cockpit, the Normandy prepared to go through the Mass Relay.

"The board is green. Approach run has begun," The Normandy's pilot, Jeff 'Joker' Moreau stated.

Just as he said this, the Normandy flew next to the Mass Relay, and the stealth ship made it's way to Eden Prime. Within seconds, they entered the Utopia System, and flew to Eden Prime.

"Thrusters... check. Navigation… check. Internal emissions sink engaged. All systems online. Drift… just under 1500k." Joker said with a hint of pride.

"1500 is good. Your captain will be pleased." The Turian Spectre, who Shepard had learned was called Nihlus, said flatly, before leaving to the debriefing room, not even giving Shepard a glance.

Joker shook his head "I hate that guy."

Kaidan, the Normandy's Staff Lieutenant gave Joker an amused look "Nihlus gave you a compliment.. soo you hate him?"

"You remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom? _That's_ good. I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead. So _that's_ incredible!" Joker pointed out. "Besides, Spectres are trouble. I don't like having him on board. Call me paranoid."

"You're paranoid. The Council helped fund this project; they have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment." Kaidan argued.

Shepard smiled and shook his head "You _always_ assume the worst, Joker."

"Well, bad feelings are an occupational hazard. I mean c'mon, think about it! We don't go anywhere unless there's a good reason, right? So what are we doing here then?" Joker said, looking around at his teammates, but was cut off by a transmission from Anderson.

"Joker! Status report." Anderson said in a stern sounding tone.

"Just cleared mass relay, Captain. Stealth systems engaged. Everything looks solid." Joker quickly replied, getting back to work.

"Good. Find a comm buoy and link us into the network. I want mission reports relayed back to Alliance brass _before_ we reach Eden Prime." The Captain ordered, making sure to emphasize 'before', reminding Joker of their last mission.

"Aye aye Captain." Joker said, "Better brace yourself sir, I think Nihlus is headed your way."

"He's _already_ here, Lieutenant." Anderson said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. As he said this, Joker shook his head as Kaidan chuckled in the background, "Tell Commander Shepard to meet me in the comm room for debriefing." The Captain finished off.

Joker looked behind himself at the Commander "You get that Commander?"

Shepard nodded "I'm on my way."

* * *

As Shepard made his way to the comm room, he made some small talk with Navigator Pressly and Jenkins, the Normandy's newest crew member about Nihlus. All he was able to gather was stuff he already knew though; Nihlus was a stern, down-to-business soldier who had no interest in small talk.

Before stepping through the door, he sighed inwardly; He wasn't able to get much sleep the previous night. Even after 6 years, he still had dreams about his father. Shepard was no fool, he knew there was nothing he could do to prevent it. It's like what his father said, "Sometimes things happen in life that you can't prevent. The best thing you can do is move on and accept it" And Shepard has.

Shepard shook his head, and entered the room. When he did, he was greeted by the sight of Nihlus, and a picture of one of the villages on Eden Prime.

The Turian Spectre turned around, and acted somewhat.. pleasant? The Commander wasn't too sure. "Commander Shepard. I was hoping you'd get here first; it'll give us a chance to talk."

Shepard gave a slightly confused look, "The Captain said he'd meet me here."

"He's on his way." Nihlus reassured, "I'm interested in this world we're going to- Eden Prime. I've heard it's quite beautiful."

"I wouldn't know sir. First time going there. But from what I've heard, it's beyond beautiful," Shepard said with a slight smile, wanting to seem at least somewhat friendly to the Spectre, "Some say it's a paradise."

"Yes... a paradise. Serene. Tranquil. Safe.. Eden Prime has become something of a symbol to your people, hasn't it?" Nihlus said, slowly pacing from right to left, occasionally glancing at Shepard.

Shepard raised an eyebrow. Despite prior attempts, Shepard was starting to get a bit tired of Nihlus' illusive words "With all due respect sir, if you have something to say, just say it."

Nihlus sighed "Your people are still newcomers, Shepard. The galaxy can be a very dangerous place," Nihlus finally turned to face the Commander, and crossed his arms, "Is the alliance truly ready for this?"

After hearing this, Shepard was even more confused. The door opened, and Shepard turned around to see Captain Anderson, "I think it's about time we told the commander what's really going on."

Nihlus took a step forward "This mission is far more than a simple shakedown run."

"I figured as much," Shepard said "After all, you don't need Spectres for a shakedown."

"We're making a covert pick-up on Eden Prime. That's why we needed the stealth systems online," Captain Anderson revealed.

"There must be a reason you didn't tell me about this, sir." Shepard said.

Anderson nodded "This comes down from the top, Commander. Strictly on a need-to-know basis. If I could have told you, I would," he said, giving Shepard somewhat of an apologetic look "A research team on Eden Prime unearthed some kind of beacon during an excavation. It was Prothean."

Shepard gave Anderson a slightly confused look "I thought the Protheans vanished 50,000 years ago?"

"Their legacy still remains," Nihlus informed him "The mass relays, the Citadel, our ship drives - it's all based on Prothean technology."

The Commander nodded, then Anderson spoke up "This is big, Shepard. The last time humanity made a discovery like this, it jumped our technology forward two hundred years. But Eden Prime doesn't have the facilities to handle something like this. We need to bring the beacon back to the Citadel for proper study."

"Obviously, this goes beyond mere human interests, Commander. this discovery could effect every species in Council Space," Nihlus said.

Shepard looked at Anderson "With all due respect, why didn't we just keep it?" he asked with a curious tone.

"You humans don't exactly have the best reputation," Nihlus said "Some species see you as selfish. Too unpredictable. Too independent. Even _dangerous_."

"Sharing that beacon will improve relations with the Council. Plus, we need their scientific expertise. They know more about the Protheans than we do," Anderson said.

Nihlus cleared his throat "The beacon isn't the only reason I'm here, Shepard."

"Nihlus wants to see you in action, Commander. He's here to evaluate you," Captain Anderson explained.

Shepard paused for a second, letting this information sink in, then ever so slightly smiled "Guess that explains why I bump into him every time I turn around."

"The Alliance has been pushing for this for a long time, Commander. Humanity wants a larger role in shaping interstellar policy. We want more say with the Citadel Council," Anderson said, then looked Shepard in the eyes "The Spectres represent the Council's power and authority. If they accept a human into their ranks, it shows how far the Alliance has come."

"You held off an enemy assault during the Blitz single handed. You showed not only courage, but also incredible skill," Nihlus said, referring to Shepard's actions during the Skyllian Blitz "That's why I put _your_ name forward as a candidate for the Spectres."

Shepard nodded slowly "And I assume this is good for the Alliance, right Captain?"

"Earth needs this, Shepard. We're counting on you," Anderson said in response.

"I need to see your skills myself, Commander. Eden Prime will be the first of many several missions together," Nihlus said, seemingly giving Shepard a smirk.

"You'll be in charge of the ground team. Secure the beacon and get it onto the ship ASAP. Nihlus will accompany you to observe the mission," Anderson told the Commander.

"Just give the word, Captain," Shepard said.

Anderson nodded "We should be getting close to Eden-"

"Captain! We got a problem." Joker cut in, sounding slightly stressed "You might wanna see this."

Just as Joker said this, a video popped up on the screen, and Shepard, Anderson and Nihlus turned to see it. From the looks of it, it looked like footage from a marine's helmet.

There was blue, laser-like beams, like the ones you'd see from the movies all around them, when a female soldier in white armor pushed the marine to the ground as she yelled for him to get down. An officer ran to him, and started yelling into the cam, "We are under attack! Taking heavy casualties. I repeat: heavy casualties! We can't…. argh!… -eed evac! They came out of nowhere. We need-" Just then the officer was pulled away from the cam by some synthetic-like being.

Just as this happened, a metallic, war-horn like came from the clouds. All the marines looked up into the sky with widened eyes and stopped shooting. The soldier with the cam also looked at the sky; just in time to see a massive, synthetic ship landing almost right on top of them. Just as this happens, the feed cuts off.

"Everything cuts out after that. No comm traffic at all. Just goes dead. There's nothing." said Joker.

"Reverse and hold at 38.5" Anderson quickly says.

Joker wordlessly obliges, and holds the vid at 38.5. The shot of the Synthetic ship is seen descending from the clouds, with red lightning surrounding it. The three stare at it for a good while, standing in silence. Nihlus' mandibles twitch slightly, maybe as a sign of distress? Shepard doesn't have enough experience with Turians to know for sure.

"Status report." Anderson said, the sudden noise alarming Shepard slightly.

"Seventeen minutes out, Captain. No other Alliance ships in the area." Joker said.

"Take us in Joker. Fast and quiet." Anderson says, before saying in a softer voice, "This mission just got a lot more complicated..."

"A small strike team can move quickly without drawing attention. It's our best chance to secure the beacon." Nihlus said.

"Shepard, get Jenkins and Alenko, you three will be the ground unit. Grab your gear and meet us in the cargo hold." Anderson said to both Shepard and Nihlus.

* * *

[Normandy, Cargo Bay; preparing to land on Eden Prime]

Shepard and his team geared up and prepared to to make there way to the beacon.

Only 17 minutes ago that they first saw the recording of what happened on Eden Prime. It's hard to tell what it is, but one thing's that certain is that the attackers are Synthetic. Shepard hoped that the synthetics on the surface were the only ones there, and that there wouldn't be backup. He didn't want another Elysium on his hands.

He took a quick look at Nihlus, who was giving his shotgun another look around. The Turian had a blank look on his face, like this was just another walk in the park for him. Maybe it was. But Shepard didn't ask; it wasn't any of his business.

"Stealth systems engaged," Joker said, "Somebody was doing some _serious_ digging here, Captain.".

Anderson made his way to Shepard, "Your team's the muscle here, Commander. Go in heavy and head straight to the dig site.".

"Aye aye Captain." Shepard said with a nod.

"What about survivors Captain?" Kaidan asked.

"Helping survivors is a secondary objective. The beacon's your top priority,".

"You coming with us Nihlus?" Shepard asked.

"I move faster on my own," Nihlus said before getting out of the cargo bay.

"Nihlus will scout out ahead. He'll feed you status reports throughout the mission, otherwise, I want radio silence," Captain Anderson stated, "The mission's yours now Shepard. Good luck.".

The Normandy flew over to drop point two, and dropped the three soldiers off. It was quite a ways off from any villages, mainly consisting of nature and wild life, or lack there of. In the distance they could hear gunfire, and some type machine sounds. Black smoke filled the sky as the sun set, covering any sign of peace this colony had. Kaidan crunched his nose and sniffed the air, "Smells like smoke and death," He thought out loud.

"What happened here?" Jenkins said with a distressed look.

"Are you gonna be okay, Jenkins?" Shepard asked the Corporal, knowing this must be tough for him.

"Yeah.. yeah I'll be fine Commander. Don't worry about me." Jenkins said.

Shepard led the team throughout the ruin's of what appeared to be a farm, where they saw the blood of what was likely to be the owners. As they moved onward closer to where the beacon was said to be, the sound of gunshot still ringed in their ears, but started to fade away, meaning whoever was left fighting weren't lasting much longer. Shepard sighed mentally, thinking about how similar this was turning out to be compared to the Skyllian Blitz. As they neared one of Eden Primes few defense towers a little ways off in the ocean, they came across a long walkway to their right, when Shepard heard a noise. He lifted his hand as a sign for them to stop, before signaling Jenkins to check it out.

Jenkins nodded and cautiously moved forward. As soon as he turned the corner, he brought his Lancer assault rifle, and scanned the area, eyes peeled for anything remotely hostile. He did a complete 360, and when he saw no signs of enemies, he looked Shepard's way, and waved his hand "It's all good Commander. No sign's of-" The Corporal was cut off when a blue plasma like beam hit him straight through the chest.

Shepard and Kaidan immediately got to cover, and readied their weapons. Shepard began to shoot at the drones, and Kaidan quickly followed suit. They took care of the enemies with relative ease, then went to over to Jenkins' body.

Kaidan knelt down and checked the Corporal's pulse, "No signs of life Commander." He then checked where the bullet hit him, "Looks like Plasma damage. Even if his shields were activated he never stood a chance.".

Shepard paused for a second "We'll make sure he get's a proper burial _after_ the mission," he said, choosing not to look at the young soldiers corpse, "If we don't get the beacon, his death will be for nothing."

"..Right." Was all that Kaidan said before getting out his assault rile again.

As they made there way to through the forest ahead, they received a call from Nihlus."I got some burned down buildings here, Shepard. A lot of bodies. I'm gonna check it out. I'll try to catch up with you at the dig site." Nihlus said through the comm link.

"Got it. Try not to have too much fun," Shepard said sarcastically.

Just as they exit the forest, the same female soldier from the vid starts running away from two drones. She quickly rolls onto her back and shoots the two drones. As she gets to her knees to get up, she sees two Geth units lay a colonist on his back, and a large spike to impale him soon after. With wide eyes, and she runs to cover before they see her. Three synthetic beings look in her directions, and make their way towards her. Just as she gets her Lancer out, Shepard and Kaidan move over to where she is, and start firing at the machines. Shepard shoots one of them right in it's light-bulb like head, while Kaidan did a singularity on the other two, allowing Shepard and the other soldier to shoot both of them.

The armor clad soldier put her Lancer away, "Thanks for the help, Commander. I didn't think I was gonna make it. Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212. You the one in charge here sir?"

"Yeah. Are you hurt Williams?" The Commander asked, a bit concerned.

"A few scrapes and burns. Nothing serious. The others weren't so lucky..." Ashley said, before she rested her head on her hand and sighed "Oh, man… We were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit. We tried to get off a distress call, but they cut off our communications. I've been fighting for my life ever seen."

"What happened to the rest of your squad?" Shepard asked.

"We were trying to make our way to the Beacon, but we walked right into an ambush. I don't think any of the others… I think I'm the only one left." Ashley said.

"It's not your fault Williams. You did the best you could." Shepard said, trying to give his best Anderson impression.

"Yes sir. We held our position as long as we could. Until the _Geth_ overwhelmed us." She said.

"The Geth hasn't been seen beyond the Veil in nearly 300 years. Why are they here now?" Kaidan thought out loud.

"They must have come for the Beacon. The dig site is close. Just over that rise. It might still be there." Ashley said.

Shepard nodded "We could use your help Williams."

"Aye aye sir. It's time for payback…" Ashley said with a hint of venom in her voice.

* * *

In a few minutes time, they arrived at the dig site, where they were greeted by multiple Geth units. Shepard and Kaidan moved closer to them, sticking to cover while doing so, while Ashley stayed back and got out her sniper. She sniped two, but a couple were able to get closer to the other two soldiers. Kaidan took notice of this, and threw one of them with his biotics into another one, and quickly shot them before they could get up. Shepard shot one in the light-bulb, and ran up to the other one, punching it's 'head', knocking it down, before he shot it twice, killing it. Once the fight was over, they looked around the area, which was almost engulfed in rocks, minus the prothean made structure. But it was clear to them that the Beacon was gone.

"This is the dig site. The Beacon _was_ right here. It must have been moved." Ashley said.

"By who? Our side or the Geth?" Kaidan asked.

"Hard to say. Maybe we'll know more after we check out the research camp." Ashley said, "It should be just up the ramp," She continued, pointing over at a hill, which was protected by walls that were holding back rocks.

"Do you think anyone got out of here alive?" Shepard said while looking around at the confined area.

"I don't know. If anyone did, they'd be at the research camp," Williams replied, before Shepard nodded, leading the team to the camp.

As they walked towards the camp, Ashley saw more black smoke rising into the sky, "Damn, looks like they hit the camp hard,".

"Keep your guard up, this is a good spot for an ambush." Kaidan noted.

They made their way to the top of the hill, they saw more of those giant spikes from before, only this time, they had what looked like mutated humans, with cords and technology coming out of various places. Just then, multiple spikes retracted, and the husks rolled off, and proceeded slowly get up, moaning slightly as if they were in pain.

"Oh god, they're still alive!" Kaidan shouted, getting out his Lancer.

"What did the Geth do to them?" Ashley thought out loud.

"We can worry about that later. Right now let's just put these poor bastards out of their misery," Shepard said, but he was wondering the same thing as the others. What _had_ the Geth done to them? What would they gain from doing this? ...None of this mattered now. Right now they had to put these people to rest.

Like the Geth they encountered, they made quick work of these husks, due to the husks not having any real weapons. They looked around a bit, looking for any spare ammo and grenades, and ran into the lead scientist for this project, and another scientist, who seemed like he had a few screws loose. She told them that the Beacon was moved to the spaceport. Shepard thanked them, and led the team out of the area. As they walked past the dead husks, Shepard gave them a pitiful look, before shaking his head lightly and joining the other two.

* * *

As Nihlus cautiously moved forward, he saw a figure from the shadows, and quickly got to cover, and too a peak at the figure. He too a deep breath, before swiftly turning around and pointing his Avenger Assault rifle at him. As he took a closer look at the figure, he eyes widened, "Saren?" He quietly asked, in a pleasant yet surprised tone.

The other Turian turned around, revealing himself to the Spectre veteran. Unfortunately, Saren still had those damn cybernetics , though last time he didn't have _nearly_ as many. Even though his old friend had assured him they were completely safe, it still is not council approved technology, which put Nihlus on edge.

"Nihlus..." Saren replied, mimicking Nihlus' tone.

Nihlus cautiously approaches the other Turian, "This isn't your mission Saren. What are you _doing_ here?"

Saren casually walked over to Nihlus, and puts his hand on Nihlus' shoulder "The Council thought you could use help on this one."

Nihlus sighed, and put his Assault Rifle down "I didn't expect to find the Geth here. The situation is bad." He said, as Saren walked past him.

"Don't worry." Saren said, before turning around, and pointing a pistol at Nihlus' head "I've got it under control."

* * *

As Shepard, Ashley and Kaidan continue past the research camp, and into some dense woods, they here a loud _Bang!_ in the distance. And just as they past some trees, they catch sight of a massive ship far off, the same one from the marines' camera feed. Shepard's eyes widen, as he sizes the thing up. He knew whatever this thing was, it would be big, but it doesn't compare to what it actually is in person; it's bigger than any ship Shepard has seen before. There was red electricity surrounding it, and red smoke coming from the back of it.

Just seeing it again, gave Ashley bad memories. Right after it landed, was when she had split apart from her unit. When it landed, that smoke had filled the air, making the Alliance soldiers blind of their enemies. She knew if she stayed there, she would've died, so she made a run for it, trying to get out of the smoke. She didn't dare look back, and took out any Geth that was in her way. So just the sight of it got her blood boiling.

"What is that? Off in the distance?" Kaidan asked, just as bewildered at the sight of it as the rest are.

"It's a ship." Ashley said, more to herself then to Kaidan. When it landed, she didn't really have time to process what it was, but looking at it now, it dawned on her, "L-Look at the size of that thing!"

Just as she said that, it's legs that were keeping it upright pushed itself up into the sky, and it started to ascend, and as it did, it made this haunting screeching sound, almost like it was speaking. But to who? The Geth?

Just as it left, more of those spikes lowered, releasing more husks. They opened fire on the husks, and took them out within a few minutes. As they made their way through the rubble and onto the loading docks, Kaidan noticed something, "Commander, look- It's Nihlus." He said.

Ashley looked at Kaidan and gave him a confused look "You know him?"

"Yeah, he's a Spectre," Kaidan replied.

Shepard walked over to the bleeding Turian, and checked his pulse. Luckily, Turians were human enough as to where the Commander knew where to check his pulse, but found none, "… He's gone. _Dammit._ Who could've-".

"Something's moving. Over behind those crates!" Ashley said, bringing out her Lancer. The others followed suit and brought how their respective weapons.

"Wait! Don't- Don't shoot! I'm one of you! I'm human." The man said distress.

Shepard raised an eyebrow "Sneaking up on us like that nearly got you killed. You should be more careful." He said, before putting his pistol away.

"I… I'm sorry. I was hiding from those creatures." He said with a shaky voice, glancing over at one of the dead husks, "My name's Powell.. I saw what happened to that Turian. The other one shot him.".

"Other one?" Shepard questioned, _'What other one?'_ ".. Listen Powell, I need to know how Nihlus died. If you know anything….".

"The other one got here first. He was waiting when your friend showed up. He called him Saren. I think they knew each other," Powell said, "Your friend seemed to relax; let his guard down and… Saren _killed_ him. Shot him right in the back. I'm just lucky he didn't see me behind the crates."

"We were told the Prothean Beacon was brought to the spaceport. Do you know what happened to it?" Shepard asked.

"It's over on the other platform," Powell pointed at the general direction of it, "Probably where that guy Saren was heading. He hopped on the cargo train right after he killed your friend," Powell shook his head and leaned forward on some crates, "I _knew_ that Beacon was trouble. Everything's gone to hell since we found it! First that damn mother ship showed up. Then the attack… They killed everyone. Everyone! If I hadn't been hiding behind those crates, I'd be dead too!".

Shepard stopped to think for a moment, and crossed his arms, "How come _you're_ the only one who survived? Why didn't anyone else try to hide behind the crates?".

"They never had a chance. I… I was already behind the crates when the attack started," Powell confessed.

Kaidan stepped forward a bit, "Wait a minute, you were hiding behind the crates _before_ the attack?".

"I... * _sigh*_ sometimes I need a nap to get through my shift. I sneak off behind the crates to grab 40 winks where the supervisor can't find me." Powell said.

"So you survived because you were _lazy_?" Ashley said, clearly irritated at the man.

"If you hadn't taken that nap, you'd probably end up like the others." Shepard said.

"Yeah.. Yeah I guess. I don't like to think about it.." Powell said.

Shepard nodded, then turned to his teammates, "Let's get going. We need to find the Beacon before this Saren finds it.".

"Take the cargo train. That's where the other Turian went." Powell said, before shaking his head and turned around to leave, "I...I can't stay here. I need to get away from all this.".

As they got closer to the train controls, more Geth units came online, including a Geth Juggernaut. The three fought their way through the Geth, each of their metal bodies falling to the floor, making a clanging sound. They focused fire on the Juggernaut, and took out the giant geth. They made their way to the train controls, and activated the train, heading to the second platform.

* * *

Saren walked over to one of the Geth units, until he was right in front of it's flash light-like eye, "Set the charges. Destroy the entire colony. Leave no evidence that we were here," The Spectre said, to which the Geth nodded, leaving to set up all four bombs to detonate in five minutes. As it did this, Saren walked over to the Beacon, and sized it up, taking deep and steady breaths while doing so, when it suddenly lifted him up in the air slightly.

* * *

As the Geth unit set up the last bomb, Shepard, Kaidan and Ashley arrived at the platform, and upon seeing the bomb closest to them, got out their guns, and got ready to defend themselves. When the train stopped, Kaidan ran over to the bomb and quickly disarmed it. Once he was done, Shepard took a step forward and looked at the two, "Spread out and try to find more bombs; this can't be the only one, and if the Beacon get's destroyed…."

"The sacrifices here will be for nothing," Ashley said, "You can count on us Commander,"

Kaidan nodded, and the three split up and disarmed each bomb, killing Geth on the way. With one minute to spare, all the bombs were disarmed, and they prepared to enter the next area. They made their way to the entrance way, and Shepard took a quick peak behind the entrance. He saw some more husks on those spikes, and some Geth patrolling the area, along with the Beacon. They entered the area, with Kaidan using his Biotics to lift the geth into the air, and Ashley taking care of them with her Lancer, while Shepard took out the husks.

The three walked a bit closer to it, before Shepard, uses his comm link to contact the Anderson and Joker, "Normandy, the Beacon is secure. Request immediate evac,"

"This is amazing! Actual, working Prothean technology. Unbelievable!" Kaidan said, stepping a bit closer to the Beacon.

"It wasn't doing that when they dug it up.." Ashley said, as Kaidan turned around and walked over to Shepard "Something must have activated it.."

"Rodger Normandy, standing by," Shepard said, then turned around to face Kaidan.

As Shepard and Kaidan were talking, Ashley started to slowly walk closer to the Beacon, until suddenly something was pulling her near it. Shepard noticed, and ran towards her, pushing her out of the way. Then, just like Saren before him, the Beacon lifted Shepard into the air, and visions flashed before his eyes, images of… death, war, some type of synthetics… Geth maybe? It was hard to tell, everything moved so fast. He could hear Kaidan and Ashley talking in the distance, but the were just muffled voices. Then, as soon as it happened, it ended. Everything went black.

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Hey everyone, thanks for taking the time to read my chapter one of Mass Effect: Constitution! It really means alot! Just to let you know if any of you are wondering, _this type of writing_ is meant to be pronounced as an emphasized word, ie: I can't _believe_ you. and stuff like that, and _'this type of writing'_ with the single quotes are meant to be someone's thoughts, ie: _'I didn't know Gary was this strong'_ and of course the bold writing represents the Authors Notes. :D And just to make things clear, this will be one of the only chapters that goes into detail about a mission, the other ones being important ones like Virmire and Ilos, and _maybe_ Feros,I still haven't decided. The series will mainly focus on the characters relationship with one another, the in between, Normandy parts, instead of the missions and side missions, as I feel they don't need rewriting.**

 **But yeah, just bare with me for a little bit, it might be a bit slow in the beginning, with intruding the characters and all, but once we get going I promise you won't regret it!**


	2. Spectre Induction

[Normandy; Med-Bay]

Shepard slowly opened his eyes, and rubbed his head, having a slight headache. _'What happened?_ _How did I_ _… Oh, yeah.'_ Now he remembered; the beacon. Something happened when he pushed Ashley out of the way, some type of vision. But what of? The past, future?

"Dr. Chakwas, I think he's awake." Ashley said.

"Ah, Commander. I'm glad to see you're up," Dr. Chakwas said with a smile, "You had us a bit worried for a minute. You always did recover rather quickly. How are you feeling?".

"Like shit." Shepard said plainly, "How long was I out for?".

"About fifteen hours. Something down there happened with the beacon, I think." Chakwas said.

"Yeah, I remember." Shepard said.

"It's my fault. I must have triggered something, some kind of security field when I approached it. You had to push me out of the way." Ashley said, while looking down in shame.

"Don't blame yourself. You had no way to know what would happen," Shepard said to her, to which Ashley gave him a small smile.

"Actually, we don't know if that's what set it off. Unfortunately we'll never get the chance to find out." The Doctor said.

"The beacon exploded. A system overload, maybe. It knocked you out cold; Alenko and I had to carry you back to the Normandy," Ashley said.

Shepard gave her a smile and a nod, "I appreciate it. Was I injured?".

"Physically you're just fine. But I did detect some unusual brainwave activity, abnormal beta waves. I also detected an increase in your rapid eye movement, signs typically associated with intense dreaming." Dr. Chakwas informed Shepard.

"More like a nightmare." The Commander said grimly, "I saw- Death. Destruction. War.. Nothing's really clear.".

Chakwas remained quiet for a couple seconds, "Hmm. I better add this to my report. It may- Oh, Captain Anderson." She was saying, until Anderson walked in.

Anderson took a quick glance at Shepard, "How's our XO holding up Doctor?" He asked.

"All the readings are normal. I'd say Shepard's going to be just fine." She said with a smile.

"That's good to hear. Shepard, I need to speak with you. In private." Anderson said.

Ashley saluted the two of them, "Aye aye sir. I'll be in the mess hall if you need me,".

Chakwas simply nodded, and stepped outside the room. Anderson turned his attention back to Shepard, "Sounds like that beacon hit you pretty hard, Shepard. You sure you're okay?" He asked his old friend.

"I'm fine, thanks… I feel bad about Jenkins though." Shepard looked down.

"Don't. Jenkins wasn't your fault; you did good down there Shepard," He reassured him.

"I see you brought Williams along," Shepard said, changing the subject.

Anderson nodded, "Yeah. I figured we could use a soldier like her. She's been reassigned to the Normandy.".

"Good. She seems like a good soldier," Shepard said.

"Lieutenant Alenko agrees with you. That's why I added her to the crew." Captain Anderson replied.

"You wanted to speak to me in private, Captain?".

" _*sigh*_ I won't lie to you Shepard. This looks bad; _real_ bad. Nihlus is dead. The beacon is destroyed and geth are invading. The council's going to want answers." Anderson said.

"We did everything we could; what happened to the beacon isn't our fault." Shepard said, before getting up off the bed.

"I'll stand behind you and your reports Shepard. You're a damned hero in my books. That's not why I'm here though. It's that other Turian, _Saren_." Anderson said, saying the other Turians name with a hint of anger, "Saren's a Spectre; one of the best there is. A living legend. But if he's working with the geth, it means he's gone rogue. A rogue Spectre's trouble. Saren's very dangerous. And, he _hates_ humans." Anderson informed him.

Shepard raised an eyebrow, "Why?".

"He thinks humanity is growing too fast, taking over the galaxy. A lot of aliens think that way, but most of them don't do anything about it. But Saren has allied himself with the geth. I don't know how and I don't know why. I only know it has _something_ to do with the beacon." He replied. Anderson thought for a moment, then looked back at Shepard, "You were there just before the beacon self-destructed. Did you see anything? Any clue that might tell us what Saren was after?" He asked the commander.

Shepard leaned back onto the bed, "Just before I lost consciousness I had some kind of…. vision.".

"A vision? Vision of what?" Anderson asked.

"I don't know.. A warning, I think. I saw synthetics. Geth, maybe. Slaughtering people. Butchering them." Shepard said. Saying it out loud just makes him more uneasy.

"We need to report this to the council, Shepard." Captain Anderson said.

Shepard let out a breathless chuckle, "And say what? I had a bad dream?".

"We don't know what was stored on that beacon. Lost Prothean technology? Blueprints for some ancient weapon of mass destruction? Whatever it was, Saren took it. But I _know_ Saren. I know his reputation, his politics. He believes humans are the blight of the galaxy. This attack was an act of war!" Anderson said, turning to face Shepard, "He has the secrets from the beacon. He has an army of geth at his command. And he won't stop until he's wiped humanity from the face of the galaxy.".

"I'll find a way to stop him, sir." Shepard said with a nod.

"It's not that easy. Saren's a Spectre. He can go anywhere, do almost anything. _That's_ why we need the council on our side." Anderson said.

"..Alright, then we prove that Saren's gone rogue and get the Council to revoke his Spectre status." Shepard said, standing up straight again, and got ready to leave the med bay.

Anderson nodded, and smiled a bit. It was these spurts of determination that reminded him of Shepard's father, "I'll contact the ambassador and see if he can get us an audience with the Council. He'll want to see us as soon once we get to the Citadel. We should be getting close; head to the bridge and tell Joker to bring us in to dock," He said, to which Shepard nodded and made his way to Joker.

On his way, Shepard exchanged a few words with Ashley, welcoming her to the Normandy and what not, then proceeded to the bridge, where he informed Joker to dock soon. Just as he did so, they arrived at the Serpent Nebula, and approached the Citadel. As Kaidan and Ash admired the Destiny Ascension, the Citadel's flagship, and the Citadel itself, he couldn't help but be impressed by it too. Shepard had only been to the Citadel and handful of times, and the only other species he'd encountered there were Asari and Turians. Maybe if he was lucky he'll get to meet some of the other different species on the Citadel.

* * *

[Human Embassies; Ambassador Udina's office]

Soon after they landed, they headed towards the Human Embassy, and arrived at Ambassador Udina's office.

"This is an outrage!" Udina yelled "The Council would step in if the geth attacked a _Turian_ colony!".

"The Turians don't create colonies on the borders of the Terminus Systems, Ambassador." The Salarian Councilor, Councilor Valern said.

"Humanity was well aware of the risks when they entered the Traverse." Counselor Tevos, the Asari Counselor said.

"What about Saren? You can't just ignore a rogue Spectre. I demand _action_!" Udina yelled at the Councilors. Shepard had to hand it to the old guy, he doesn't give up until he has his way.

"You don't get to make commands of the Council, Ambassador." The Turian Councilor, Sparatas, growled.

"Citadel Security is investigating your charges against Saren. We will discuss C-Sec findings at the hearing, not before," Councilor Tevos said, ending the conversation.

Udina sighed, and turned around to face Anderson and the others, "Captain Anderson. I see you brought half your crew with you,".

"Just the ground team from Eden Prime. In case you had any questions." Anderson said, as Shepard turned to look at Udina.

"I have the mission reports," Udina crossed his arms, "I assume they're accurate?".

"They are. I see you managed to get an audience with the Council." Anderson replied.

"They were not happy about it. Saren's their top agent. They don't like him being accused of treason." Udina said.

Shepard raised an eyebrow, and crossed his arms, a bit irritated, "Saren's a threat to every human colony out there. He needs to be stopped. The council _has_ to listen to us!".

"Settle down, Commander. You've already done more than enough to jeopardize your candidacy for the Spectres." Udina retorted, "Eden Prime was a chance to to prove you could get the job done. Instead, Nihlus ended up _dead_ and the beacon was _destroyed_!".

"That's Saren's fault, not his!" Anderson said in defense.

"Then we better hope the C-Sec investigation turns up evidence to support our accusations. Otherwise, the Council might use this as an excuse to keep you out of the Spectres," The Ambassador looked over at Anderson, "Captain, come with me. I want to go over a few things before the hearing. Shepard – you and the others can meet us at the Citadel Tower. Top level. I'll make sure you have clearance to get in.".

As Udina and Anderson left the office, Ashley shook her head, "And _that's_ why I hate politicians.".

* * *

[Citadel Tower]

Shepard, Kaidan and Ashley arrived at the Council Tower, and, to say the meeting didn't go well would be an understatement. In short, the Council said that they didn't have nearly enough evidence to prove Saren guilty, and dismissed the charges against Saren.

After some discussion between the group of them, they decided it was a good idea to pay Garrus Vakarian, a C-Sec officer who was assigned to the case against Saren; a visit.

Udina informed Shepard that a C-Sec officer by the name of Harkin could tell them where Garrus was. Shepard nodded and thanked the Ambassador, before him, Ash and Kaidan headed to the Citadel Wards in search of him.

When they arrived at the Wards, they asked a near by C-Sec officer if he knew where Harkin was, to which the officer said that he was in his favorite hang-out place, Chora's Den. Shepard thanked him, and they made their way to Chora's Den.

Minutes later, they arrived at the famous bar, and walked over to Harkin. Just like Shepard thought, Harkin was a pain in the ass; often rambling about things off topic. It took Ashley threatening to beat his ass for him to finally spill the beans. Harkin said with a slightly drunk tone that Garrus was at some clinic in the Upper Wards. It wasn't exactly what Shepard was hoping for, but it'll have to do.

* * *

[Citadel Wards; Approaching the clinics, shops and bathroom's]

After asking the locals about where the nearest clinic was, they made their way north to a clinic run by a Dr. Michel. As they got closer, Shepard heard yelling beyond the door, so they cautiously made their way to the entrance.

"I didn't tell anyone. I swear!" He hears a woman with a thick accent say. As she said this, Shepard opens the door, and brings his gun out. He see's Garrus, who's in cover, slowly making his way to the armed men, who are in the back of the clinic.

"That was smart, doc." The thug said, "Now if Garrus comes around, you stay smart. Keep your mouth shut or we'll-" He says until he notices Shepard out of the corner of his eye, and as he turns to face Shepard, he grabs Dr. Michel, and points his gun at the commander, "Who are you?"

"Let her go." Shepard says in a serious tone while glaring at the man. After he says this, Garrus get's out of cover and points his gun at the man who's holding Dr. Michel hostage, and shoots him in the head, not even hesitating. Afterwords, Shepard, Ash and Kaidan took out the other thugs, who went down quite easily, due to their lack of combat experience.

Shepard walks over to where Garrus and Dr. Michel are, and Garrus gives him the closest thing to a smile a Turian can give, "Perfect timing, Shepard. Gave me a perfect shot at that bastard.".

"That was impressive, especially for a pistol." Shepard gives Garrus a smile, "You're pretty good.".

"Thank you Commander," Garrus turns to look at the red headed Doctor, "Dr. Michel, are you hurt?".

"No, I'm okay. Thank you, all of you." Dr. Michel said.

"Who were those men?" Shepard asked, crossing his arms.

"They work for Fist. They wanted to shut me up, keep me from telling Garrus about the quarian," She said, glancing at Garrus when she mentioned him.

Shepard raised an eyebrow, "Quarian?" he said, sounding a bit surprised. During the few times he'd been at the Citadel he'd never seen a quarian here.

"A few days ago, a quarian came by my office. She'd been shot, but she wouldn't tell me who did it. I could tell she was scared, probably on the run." She said, "She asked me about the Shadow Broker. She wanted to trade information for a safe place to hide.".

Shepard nodded, "Okay, then what?".

"I put her in contact with Fist. He's an agent for the Shadow Broker." Dr. Michel informed them.

"Not anymore. He works for Saren now. And the Shadow Broker isn't too happy about it." Garrus said.

"Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker? That's _stupid_ even for him!" She said, shocked at the statement, "Saren must have made him quite he offer,".

"That Quarian must have something Saren wants. Something worth crossing the Shadow Broker to get." Garrus said.

"She must have evidence that proves Saren guilty.." Shepard said, before turning to face Dr. Michel, "Did the quarian mention anything about Saren or the Geth?".

After thinking for a few seconds, Dr. Michel nodded, "She did! The information she was going to trade. She said it had something to do with the Geth.".

"She must have something to link Saren to the Geth! There's noway the Council can ignore _this_!" Garrus said, excited that they might finally be able to find some solid evidence against the Spectre veteran.

"Then I guess it's time we pay Fist a visit," Shepard said.

"This is your show, Shepard. But I want to take Saren down as much as you do. Let me come with you." He said, almost asking the Commander.

Shepard smiled, before offering his hand for Garrus to shake, "Sounds good to me. Welcome aboard Garrus.".

Garrus gladly accepted the handshake, "Thank you Commander. I won't let you down.".

"You know we aren't the only ones going after Fist; the Shadow Broker hired a Krogan bounty hunter named Wrex to take him out." Garrus stated, "It might be worth paying him a visit, see if we can work together.".

Shepard nodded, "Good idea. Any idea where he is?".

"He should be down by the C-Sec Academy. Fist had accused him of making threats. We brought him in earlier to have a little talk about what happened at Chora's Den. If you hurry we should be able to catch him" Garrus said.

"Alright, we'll head to the Academy then." Shepard said, before leaving the clinic.

* * *

[C-Sec Academy]

The walk to the academy didn't take long, apart from a long elevator ride. When they got there, they saw Wrex and some C-Sec officer arguing, which ended in Wrex laughing in the officer's face, daring him to try and stop him. As the officer walked off, clearly agitated, Shepard approached the battle worn Krogan, who gave Shepard an unreadable look, "Do I know you, human?".

"The name's Shepard. I'm going after Fist. Heard you were going after him two and thought you might want to tag along." Shepard said, replicating Wrex's tone.

Wrex gave an acknowledging look at the human, "Shepard? Commander Shepard? I've heard a lot about you." Wrex took a step closer to Shepard, "We're both warriors Shepard. Out of respect, I'll give you a fair warning. I'm going to _kill_ Fist.".

Garrus stepped closer to the two, "Fist knows you're coming. We'll have a better shot if we work together.".

After taking this into consideration for a little while, Wrex looked at Shepard, "My people have a saying: Seek the enemy of your enemy, and you will find a friend.".

The two shook hands, "Glad to have you on the team, Wrex." Shepard said.

* * *

[Citadel Wards; Approaching Chora's Den]

The group of five made their way to Chora's Den, with Wrex having his shotgun out the whole time, despite Shepard's wishes. But as they entered the hallway to get to the infamous bar, they were attacked by a couple of Salarians in all black armor. They took them out quite easily, with Wrex knocking one over the railing, muttering something about it being a Pyjack, whatever that was.

"They must work for Saren," Shepard said, "Fist knows we're coming. There's no point in going in quietly now.".

Wrex grinned, "Whoever said we were going in quietly to begin with?" the Krogan said before shoulder charging the door, busting it down, and entered the circle shaped bar. When he entered, he was met by at least over a dozen men, mostly human, but some turian, salarian and krogans, ready for him.

The other four ran in shortly after, killing Fist's men right and left, with Wrex tackling another Krogan into a wall, before shooting the downed Krogan with his shotgun. Once all the enemies were taken care of, they entered the door opposite of the entrance, which led to a small hallway that connected the main bar to Fist's office. When the door opened, they saw two guards point a gun at them. Shepard noticed that their guns were wavering slightly, indicating they most likely weren't used to holding guns. _'They probably never held a gun in their life.'_ Shepard thought.

As Wrex was about to step forward and shoot them, Shepard put his hand in front of Wrex, wordlessly tell him to stay there, and looked at the men, "It might be best if you leave." Shepard said with a slight smile, as they quickly ran out the door and out of the bar.

"It would've been easier to just kill them," Wrex muttered to himself, a bit disappointed.

"Sometimes killing isn't always the answer," Shepard said.

Wrex just rolled his eyes, as they entered Fist's office. But just as they entered, they were greeted by two automated turrets firing at them from the left. Shepard, Garrus and Wrex got into cover, while Ashley and Kaidan stayed outside, making sure the others wouldn't get flanked.

"Don't make this anymore difficult for yourself, Fist. Turn off the turrets and stand down," Shepard tried to reason to the former agent.

"Go to hell!" Fist yelled, as he hid behind one of the turrets.

"Suit yourself," Shepard said quietly, as he threw a grenade at the left turret, while Wrex did a biotic shockwave to the one Fist was hiding behind, which launched him against the back wall.

Shepard approached Fist, and pointed his pistol at the man, "Tell me where the quarian is." He demanded.

"She's not here. I don't know where she is. That's the truth!" Fist said.

Wrex snorted, "He's lying. Let me rough him up a bit, then he'll be willing to talk." the Krogan said as he cracked his knuckles.

Shepard gave Fist a stern look, "You have three seconds until I let Wrex have his way.".

Fist paused for a moment, "The quarian isn't here. Said she'd only only deal with the Shadow Broker himself.".

Wrex let out a chuckle,"Hah! Impossible. The Shadow Broker only works through his agents. Not even _I've_ met the Shadow Broker.".

Fist hesitantly got up, "Y-You're right; nobody meets the Shadow Broker. Nobody knows his true identity. But she didn't know that. I told her I'd set a meeting up," Fist smiled, "But when she shows up, it'll be Saren's men waiting for her.".

Shepard got up right in Fist's face and pointed his gun at Fist's head, "Tell me where the meeting is before I blow your lying head off!".

"H-Here on the wards. The back alley behind the markets. She's supposed to meet them right now. You can still make it if you hurry." Fist said, looking at Shepard's gun the whole time.

Shepard took a deep breath, then put his gun down, "Alright, let's go.".

"Wait," Wrex said, before shooting Fist with his shotgun pointblank in the chest, "Now we can leave.".

"What the hell are you doing?!" Garrus said, pointing his gun at the krogan.

"The Shadow Broker paid me to kill him." Wrex said, putting his shotgun away, "I don't leave my jobs half done."

Shepard turned to face Wrex, "We don't kill unarmed prisoners," The Commander said.

"How many people died because of him? He had it coming." Wrex said, "Besides, we have more pressing concerns.".

Shepard sighed quietly, then nodded, "Fair enough. Just remember who's in charge here," He said, before leading the team to where Fist said she was.

* * *

[Citadel Wards; Alleyway behind the markets]

"Did you bring it?" A Turian with face paint said with annoyance in his voice.

"W-Where's the Shadow Broker? Where's Fist?" the quarian said, looking around the alley.

The Turian put his hand on the side of her face, before moving down her arm, "They'll be here. Where's the evidence?" He asked again.

The quarian pushed his hand off of her, "No way. The deal's off." She said, trying to sound stern.

This made the Turian visibly angry, and two Salarian assassin's came from behind a crate, and pointed their guns at her. Realizing her situation, she quickly threw a grenade she made during her travels, and ran behind cover. Just as she got out her gun, a group of five people came through the door, three humans, a krogan and a turian. Within twenty seconds of arriving, they took out the assassin's. She noticed one of the humans, presumably the leader, walk over to her. _'_ _Keelah, I hope he took a shower, because my filters need changing, and humans carry a lot of germs...'_ She thought to herself.

"Are you okay?" The man asked her.

"Fist set me up!" She said, as if just coming to that realization, "I knew I couldn't trust him!".

"You don't have to worry about him, he's been dealt with." He said said with a nod.

Tali smiled under her mask, "Then I guess there are two things I need to thank you for." She said, but realized she didn't know his name, "Ehm, w-who are you?".

"Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy." He said with a smile, "Over there is Kaidan, Ashley, Garrus and Wrex." He looked back at the quarian, "We're looking for evidence to prove Saren's a traitor.".

"Oh? T-Then I might have a chance to repay you for saving my life. Not here though. We need to find someplace safe." She said to Shepard.

Kaidan took a step forward, "The ambassador's office. He'll want to see this anyway.".

"Sounds like a plan," Shepard said with a little smile.

* * *

[Human Embassies; Ambassador Udina's office]

Udina rested his head in his hand and sighed, "You aren't making my life easy, Shepard. Firefights in the wards? An all-out assault on Chora's Den?" Udina turned to face the commander, "Do you know how many-" The Ambassador paused when he saw the Quarian beside Shepard, "Who's this? A _Quarian_? What are you up to, Shepard?".

"Making your day easier, Ambassador. She has information linking Saren to the geth," Shepard said to Udina.

Udina raised an eyebrow, "Really? Maybe you better start at the beginning, miss…?".

"M-My name is Tali. Tali' Zorah nar Rayya," The quarian girl said in a soft voice.

"We don't see many quarians here. Why did you leave the flotilla?" Udina asked, trying to sound polite.

"I was on my pilgrimage, my rite of passage into adulthood." Tali said, before explaining further, "It is a tradition among my people. When we reach maturity, we leave the ships of our parents and our people behind. Alone, we search the stars, only returning to the flotilla when we have discovered something of value. In this way, we prove ourselves worthy of adulthood. Through our pilgrimage, we prove that we will contribute to our community, rather than be a burden on our limited resources.".

"And you found something related to Saren and the Geth?" Shepard asked.

Tali nodded, and explained that when she heard rumors of Geth, she got curious and investigated. She described that she was able to get one of it's memory core's after waiting for it to get separated from the group it was in. While she was telling everyone her story, Shepard couldn't help but be impressed. She didn't seem any younger than 18, and the fact that she was able to track down and take out a Geth while going unnoticed, is quite the accomplishment. Tali went on to say that when she examined the memory core, she found a recording on it, one with Saren's voice. She brought up her Omni-Tool, and played the tape.

" _Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the conduit."_

" _And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."_

"I don't recognize the other voice. The one talking about 'Reapers'." Udina said after thinking about it for a few seconds.

"What are the Reapers, though? Some kind of new species?" Shepard asked.

"According to the memory core, the Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race that existed over 50,000 years ago." Tali said, "The Reapers hunted the Protheans to complete extinction, and then they vanished.. A-At least that's what the geth believed.".

"Sounds a bit far-fetched, don't you think?" Udina said, crossing his arms.

"...The vision on Eden Prime – I think I understand it now." Shepard said while he concentrated, "I saw the Protheans being wiped out by the Reapers."

"The geth revere the Reapers as gods, the pinnacle of non-organic life. And they believe Saren knows how to bring them back." Tali added.

Udina shook his head, "The council is just going to _love_ this." He said.

Shepard sighed lightly, "I'm gonna have to agree with Udina on this one. I mean, a race of synthetic gods that completely wiped out one of the most advanced races ever known? If I wasn't given that vision I'd have a hard time believing it too." Shepard said, then looked back at Udina, "But the Reapers are a threat to every species in Citadel space. We have to tell the council.".

"Well, no matter what they think of the rest of this, those audio files _prove_ that Saren's a traitor!" Anderson spoke up.

"The Captain's right. We need to bring this to the council right away." Udina said with a nod.

"What about her?" Wrex said, referring to Tali, "The quarian?".

"My name is Tali!" She said, slightly irritated, "You saw me in the alley, Commander. You know what I can do. Let me come with you." Tali asked.

Shepard raised his eyebrow, "What about your pilgrimage?".

"The pilgrimage proves we are willing to give of ourselves for the greater good. What does it say about me if I turn my back on this?" Tali said, "Saren is a danger to the entire galaxy. My pilgrimage can wait.".

After considering it for a second, Shepard smiled, "I don't see why not." He said, "Welcome aboard Tali.".

"Thank you Commander. You won't regret this." Tali said with gratitude.

Udina nodded at Anderson, then turning to face the group of six, "Anderson and I will go ahead to get things ready for the council. Take a few minutes to collect yourself, then meet us at the Citadel Tower." The ambassador said.

After a few minutes of discussing, Shepard decided it was best to send Kaidan and Ashley back to the Normandy, while Garrus, Wrex and Tali came with him to see the Council. Kaidan agreed, and Ashley nodded, saluting Shepard, before the two of them left.

* * *

[Normandy; Mess hall]

After getting out of their armor and back into their Alliance uniforms, Ash and Kaidan took a seat at the dining table, Kaidan bringing a glass of water with him to help with his L2 induced headache.

After a minute or so, Ashley shook her head, "I can't believe the Commander's working with aliens."

Kaidan put his water down, and raised an eyebrow at the gunnery chief, "Why's that?"

Ashley paused for a bit, then sighed, "I don't know. It just.. doesn't feel right. That SOB Saren attacked _our_ colony. This is our fight, not theirs." She said.

"I can see where you're coming from," Kaidan said, "But if Shepard's right, which I'm positive he is, humanity can't do this alone. We'll need all the help we can get.".

"You're right. I know you are." Ashley said, looking down at her hands, "Maybe it's how I was raised, but I was taught that if someone picks a fight with you, you have to finish it. No help.".

"I can respect that. But I just don't think that train of thought applies to something of this scale." Kaidan said, to which Ashley nodded. "Well I'm gonna lay down for a bit, before this headache of mine get's too bad." Kaidan got up to go to the crew's quarters, then turned around to face Ashley and smiled, "Try not to burn the place down.".

Ashley chuckled a bit, "I'll try my best. I'm gonna go down to the armory, check out our weapon supplies if you need me."

* * *

[Citadel Tower]

Within a couple of minutes, Shepard, Wrex, Garrus and Tali reached Citadel Tower. Shepard spotted Anderson, so he told the other three to wait there while him, Anderson and Udina talked to the Council. Shepard prayed that this would be just the evidence that they needed, otherwise, they'd hit a dead end. And after hearing what Saren was like from Anderson, Shepard knew that the veteran Spectre had to be stopped.

"Come on. Udina's presenting the quarian's evidence to the Council." Anderson said, leading Shepard to the Council.

Just as Shepard and Anderson walked onto the platform, the recording of Saren and the other female played. When the recording finished, Udina smirked and pointed at the Council, who were quite surprised, "You wanted proof? There it is.".

After a few moments of silence, the Turian Councilor spoke up, "This evidence is irrefutable, ambassador. Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in for his crimes.".

The Asari Councilor spoke up, "I recognize the other voice, the one speaking to Saren. Matriarch Benezia." She said, sounding slightly surprised.

"Who's she?" Shepard asked.

"Matriarchs are powerful Asari who have entered the final stage of their lives. Revered for their wisdom and experience, they serve as guides and mentors to my people." the Asari Councilor stated, "Matriarch Benezia is a powerful biotic, and she had many followers. She will make a formidable ally for Saren.".

"I'm more interested in the Reapers." The Salarian Councilor finally spoke up, "What do you know about them?".

"Only what was extracted from the Geth's memory core." Captain Anderson stated, "The Reapers were an ancient race of machines that wiped out the Protheans. Then they vanished.".

"The Geth believe them to be gods. And that Saren is the prophet for their return." Shepard said.

Anderson nodded, "We think the conduit is the key to bringing them back. Saren's searching for it. _That's_ why he attacked Eden Prime.".

"Do we even know what this 'conduit' is?" the Salarian Councilor asked.

"Saren thinks it can bring the Reapers back. That's bad enough." Shepard said.

The Turian Councilor scoffed, "Listen to what you're saying. Saren wants to bring back the machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy? Impossible. It _has_ to be." Councilor Sparatas said, "Where did the Reapers go? Why did they vanish? How come we've found no trace of their existence? If they _were_ real we'd have found something!".

"The Reapers are obviously just a myth, Commander. A convenient lie to cover Saren's true purpose. A legend he is using to bed the Geth to his will." Councilor Valern said.

Starting to loose his temper a bit, Shepard took a step forward, "50,000 years ago, the Reapers wiped out all galactic civilization. If Saren finds the conduit, it _will_ happen again!".

"Saren is a rogue agent on the run for his life. He no longer has the rights or resources of a Spectre. The council have stripped him of his position." The Turian Councilor said.

Udina took a step forward, "That is _not_ good enough! You know he's hiding somewhere in the Traverse. Send your fleet in!".

The Salarian Councilor almost chuckled at that, "An entire fleet cannot track down one man.".

"A Citadel fleet could secure the entire region. Keep the geth from attacking anymore of our colonies." Udina said to the council, though he had a feeling he was fighting a loosing battle.

"Or it could trigger an all out war with the Terminus Systems! We won't be dragged into a galactic confrontation over a few Human colonies." The Turian Councilor said.

Right as Udina was about to reply to the Councilor's statement, Shepard stepped forward, "It won't start a war if you only send one man into the Traverse." He said, "I can take Saren down.".

"The Commander's right," the Asari Councilor said to the other two councilors, "There _is_ a way we can stop Saren without sending fleets or armies.".

The Turian Councilor's eyes widened a bit, "You can't be serious!" He said, before shaking his head, "It's too soon. Humanity isn't ready for the responsibilities that come with joining the Spectres!".

"With all due respect, Councilor, it's the best solution for everybody." Shepard stated, "The council doesn't have to send a fleet into the Traverse, and the Ambassador get's his Human Spectre. Everyone's happy." Shepard argued.

The council members looked at each other for a moment, pressed a few buttons, then looked back at Shepard, "Commander Shepard – Step forward." Shepard glanced at Anderson, who smiled and nodded, then obeyed the councilor's command, "It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel."

"Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions elevate them above rank and file."

"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol. The embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will."

"Spectres bear a great burden. They are protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold."

"You are the first Human Spectre, Commander. This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species." The Asari Councilor finished.

"I'm honored." Shepard said with a slight nod.

"We're sending you to the Traverse after Saren. He's a fugitive from justice, so you are authorized to use any means necessary to apprehend or eliminate him." the Salarian councilor said.

"Yes sir." Shepard replied, "Any leads on where to find him?".

"We will forward any relevant files to Ambassador Udina." the Turian councilor said.

"This meeting of the council is adjourned." the Asari councilor said, dismissing everyone at the meeting, which also lead the crowd of people, who Shepard had just noticed, to leave also.

Anderson smiled at Shepard, and shook his hand, "Congratulations, Commander.".

"We've got a lot of work to do, Shepard. You're going to need a ship, a crew, supplies..." Udina said, "Anderson, come with me. I'll need your help to set all this up.".

As the two left the tower, Wrex scoffed, and looked at Shepard, "Hmph.. Bastard didn't even say thank you.".

 **Author's Notes**

 **Hey guys :D Once again, sorry that this chapter is basically a novelization of the game. But once they pickup Liara, then I can start to get into the stuff I want to, rather than rely heavily on in-game stuff. But either way, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and hopefully you'll stick around to read the whole story! I also add more of [these] just to clarify where that scene takes place. So for example, a scene in the captains cabin would be like this [Normandy; Captains cabin] I did a little bit of that in the first chapter, but I feel like it has more of a purpose now. But yeah, hope you guys enjoy!**


	3. Before the Hunt

After the ceremony was finished, Shepard dismissed the three aliens, allowing them time to get whatever supplies they needed, and told them to meet him at the Normandy's docking bay. While they did that, he went down to C-Sec academy, and thanks to his newly appointed role, got himself an upgraded set of N7 armor, more fit for heavy combat, something Shepard knew would happen sooner or later.

On his way to the markets in the wards, he stopped to look over the expanse of the Citadel through a massive bulkhead window. He saw different skycars flying by, and massive skyscrapers piercing into the bluish-pink dust of the Widow Nebula, with light shining from them, adding a calm feeling to the place. Then he looked at his reflection; he looked about the same as he always had, brown hair, dark brown eyes with a small scar above his left eye, and a bit of stubble, though it seemed to have gotten a bit longer from when they left Earth to now. _'Maybe I should shave…'_ Shepard thought, rubbing his chin, but shrugged it off.

Shepard walked into the market area, which consisted of about eight stores, all relatively small. As he searched through each stores selections, he saw relatively the same products and layout; a little datapad on the counter indicating any and all weapons there were C-Sec approved, packs of medi-gel on one side, with different nic-nacs and gadgets on the other. The weapons, Shepard learned, were usually kept under the counter. He slowly looked through all the merchandise of each store and came to the conclusion that, in regard to weapons, what he had was already better than what was offered. It didn't surprise him though, since these aren't exactly the places he should be looking at{perhaps, "since this wasn't exactly the best place to be looking. He _was_ able to find a couple of guns for his new crew, and a few types of grenades, including a new 'Biotic grenade' however. He raised an eyebrow upon seeing this. This 'biotic grenade' intrigued him a bit, as he didn't know a lot about biotics, and didn't know that something like this was possible. A few more minutes of searching, and he decided that this was enough, and was about to leave where he entered from, when he heard a man call out.

"Oh, wow! Are you _the_ Commander Shepard?"

Shepard turned around, and saw a blonde human man, a bit shorter than himself, blue eyes, with a goatee, standing by the stairs looking at him, grinning. "That's me," Shepard said with a small smile of his own. While he had prepared himself for people like this, it still boggled his mind that he had fans.

"Wow! I can't believe you're actually here! My name's Conrad. Conrad Verner. It's such an honor to meet you." Conrad said, as he shook Shepard's hand, "Hey, do you think I can get a picture?"

"Ehm..." Shepard muttered, before mentally shrugging, smiling and agreeing to Conrad's request, "I don't see why not."

"Great! Just pose with your gun..." his omni-tool flashed "aaand perfect!" Conrad smiled. "Thank you so much Commander! My wife is going to _love_ this." He said, before leaving the markets, leaving an amused Shepard to himself.

* * *

Garrus headed towards Executor Pallin's office in the Presidium. Not long after joining Shepard and the other humans, he had made up his mind that he was going to quit his job at C-Sec. He would get hell from his father about it, but he didn't care. He was going to quit either way, the fact that he would get to work with a Spectre was just a plus. The overall frustration of having to always work 'by the books' and letting crooks and bastards get away was getting to him. So what if he had to bend the laws a bit? As long as the job was done and the criminal was caught it shouldn't matter.

Before he knew it, he'd reached the door to Pallin's office. He walked in without hesitation. Executor Pallin looked up from his screen, "Vakarian, what do you want? I thought I told you you couldn't just-"

"I'm done, Pallin. I'm sick of doing things your way, or the high way," Garrus said, his mandibles twitching. "You know how damn frustrating it is, letting murderers get away just because 'You're not authorized to do that' or 'That's against the book'? Well, I'm done with it," he said taking a deep breath, glad to have gotten that off his chest "I quit."

Executor Pallin simply stared at Garrus for a few seconds, eyes wide, before regaining his composure, and looking back at his screen. "Very well then, Vakarian. I'll make sure your things are ready to get picked up." Just before the other turian walked out the door, he added, "Despite your stubbornness and your lack of appreciation for the rules... it was a pleasure working with you."

Garrus looked back at the Executor for a second, before nodding and leaving, ready to start this new chapter of his life.

* * *

Wrex entered his 'safe house', as humans called it, and opened each and every drawer, brief case, and closet door, gathering all his weapons and grenades. _'This is going to be one of_ _my_ _biggest jobs yet. Killing crime lords and dumb-asses are one thing, hunting one of the most wanted men in the galaxy is another.'_

A couple minutes later, he left the worn down place for the final time, and decided to take the long route to the docking bay. If Wrex was honest with himself, all the peace and tidiness of the embassies made him a bit sick. The wards were much more interesting, but even then, it reeked of calmness. He had to go on vacation sometime soon. Maybe to that place in the Terminus he's heard about.

Factory smoke filled the krogan's nostrils as he made his way through the working district, which was recognized as the factory orientated, more questionable side of the wards. Just as Wrex was about to take the elevator to the upper wards, he heard an unfortunately familiar voice.

"Wrex, buddy! Long time no see," a brownish batarian in black, scarred armor said.

The krogan begrudgingly turned around, "What are you doing here Dhakis? I thought the Citadel wasn't your kind of place."

Dhakis leaned on a near-by wall and smiled, "It isn't. But I was hired to take out this asshole who messed with the wrong guy. When I heard that there was a big firefight by Chora's Den, I just knew it was you."

"Yeah, well I don't have time for you. I've got places to be, and things to do." Wrex said as he walked towards the elevator door.

Dhakis moved in front of him, "You know, Wrex, my memory isn't always the best, but if I remember correctly, you owe me 1,000 credits for that time I lent you my gun. So why don't you just give me the credits now and I'll let you get back to your 'things'," Dhakis scowled at Wrex.

"Hah! Is that a threat?" Wrex asked, amused at the batarian in front of him. He shoved Dhakis to the right, almost knocking the batarian off his feet.

"Of course not. C'mon Wrex, _I'm_ not stupid enough to threaten you. My _friend_ on the other hand…." Just as Dhakis said this, another krogan, a much larger one, came from the other side of the elevator, wearing traditional Blood pack armor, "That's a whole 'nother story."

The blood pack krogan walked up to Wrex until they were face to face, "You better give Dhakis his credits, weakling, or else it won't end well for you."

"That, right there, is Krulak, of the Jarlok clan. He's a blood pack veteran, and given the right price, is also a body guard," Dhakis said with a smug look on his face.

Wrex paused for a bit, sizing the krogan up, before charging at Krulak, ramming him into the elevator. Krulak punched Wrex square in the jaw, knocking the red-armored krogan off him. Wrex quickly recovered, and punched Krulak in the ribs multiple times, before giving him a hard headbutt. That sudden headbutt dazed the blood pack krogan long enough for Wrex to unleash a shockwave to the krogan, knocking him into the window of a nearby shop, cracking the glass heavily, much to the people inside's horror. After that, he walked up to the downed krogan, got out his shotgun, and shot the krogan twice, killing Krulak.

Wrex whizzed his Omni-Tool over Krulak's body and walked up to Dhakis. The batarian was watching the spectacle with wide eyes, shocked at how fast Wrex was able to take out the blood pack member. "You want your credits? Here," Wrex said, giving him the credits he had just stole from Krulak, "Now stay out of my way, Dhakis."

With that, Wrex entered the elevator, and made his way to the Normandy's docking bay, acting like nothing ever happened.

* * *

Tali walked through the markets in the wards, looking for a store that sold nutrition paste, as it was all she could afford. She didn't bring anything of value, and she didn't have a place to stay on the Citadel, so she didn't need to go somewhere and get stuff. As she searched through the markets, her mind wondered to the events of the past couple of days. Not only had she encountered actual _geth_ , but she also met at least one of every major species, such as Hanar, Elcor, Turians, Salarians, Asari, and many more, including the _Council_. The _Council_! Some people needed to wait at least seven months to meet them, but it only took her a couple of days. Although, that was thanks to the Commander.

Commander Shepard… Now that she thought about it, she'd heard bits and pieces about him. Mainly just that he was the 'Hero of Elysium'. The fact that she got to meet a man who is considered a hero among all the people here amazes her. Even more so that he gave her a second glance. Most of the people she's encountered gave her dirty looks, or called her racial slurs, such as 'Suit Rat' and 'Ship Dweller'. But Commander Shepard was different... He seems to treat her as an actual person.

"Welcome to Morlan's famous shop! How may I help you?" The sudden voice made her jump on the inside, but she quickly turned to face the Salarian.

"Uh-Uhm, do you have any n-nutrition paste?" Tali asked.

"Lucky for you we just restocked! How many would you like?" The salarian, who Tali presumed to be Morlan, asked.

"Can I have, ehm, four, please?" Tali asked

"That you can," Morlan got out four containers of nutrition paste, and handed them to her, "That'll be thirty credits."

Tali quickly gave the salarian the credits, to which Morlan smiled and thanked her, "Have a nice day ma'am!"

Tali smiled and nodded, then left for the docking bay. As she entered the hallway that lead to the C-Sec academy, she noticed two C-Sec officers look at her, and walking towards her, one human and the other turian. The turian officer stood back a couple of feet, while the human officer approached her and stopped her.

"Hold it right there, sweetheart. We don't usually see your kind around here. What brings you?" He asked her, crossing his arms.

"I'm supposed to meet a friend of mine at the docking bays. H-He said that the C-Sec academy had an elevator that lead to it," Tali replied.

"Yeah that's right. Why do you need to meet him _there_? Not in trouble are you?" the human asked, already deciding in his mind the answer.

The turian officer stepped a bit closer, "Yeah, that seems a bit sketchy. We might have to bring you in, give you a run down,"

"What? But I didn't do anything wrong!" Tali said.

"We don't know that yet. For all we know, you could've pick-pocketed someone, and now you're trying to get away," the human officer said.

"Wouldn't surprise me, Mark. Quarians tend to do that sort of stuff," the turian officer said.

Tali began to get angry now, "My people are _not_ thieves!"

"Whatever you say, girly," Mark said, "But the fact of the matter is, we can't let you go until we know for _sure_ you didn't do anything wrong. C'mon Casrius, let's bring her in,"

The turian officer obliged, and grabbed Tali, who pushed him off her, and stepped back. Right when the two C-Sec officers were about to arrest her by force, the door they had their backs to opened, and a man came out. When Tali looked past the men, she noticed it was Shepard, who had a look of annoyance on his face.

Shepard grabbed Mark's arm and pulled him out of the way, knocking him on his rear. The sudden appearance of Shepard surprised Casrius, so he stepped back next to his partner, and helped him up.

Shepard crossed his arms, and glared at the two, "Is there a reason you two are harassing my friend here?"

"She's being brought in in suspicion of thievery and resisting arrest. And you're under arrest for putting your hands on an officer!" Mark yelled.

Shepard raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, "You gonna arrest the first human Spectre?"

The officers gave him a look of realization, before Mark muttered a curse under his breath, "Walk away from this if you know what's good for you," Shepard said, to which they obliged, muttering to themselves a bit.

Shepard turned to face Tali and smiled, "You okay? Those guys seemed like assholes,"

"Yeah, t-thank you." Tali smiled, despite her mask covering it, "How did you know to come here?"

"I was waiting outside the Spectre requisitions office for a weapon to come in when I heard the commotion," he said. "C'mon, we should only have to wait for a few more minutes,"

They made the short walk to a bench outside the requisitions office and sat down.

"So, ehm, how did you and Captain Anderson meet?" Tali asked, "From what I've seen you two seem close."

Shepard glances over at Tali, and smiles at her question, "Anderson was an old friend of my dads. Both served in the First Contact war. For as long as I remember he's been around. So when I joined the Alliance he made sure I got good training and got on a good ship. After the Skyllian Blitz and I received my N7 training, he asked if I wanted to join his crew, so I said yes, of course."

"How is it on the Normandy? Is the crew nice there?" Tali asked.

"Oh yeah, you don't have to worry about that. Back when I joined the Normandy they were pretty accepting. It's quite a nice ship too. The Normandy has one of the best drive core's in the whole Alliance from what I've heard," Shepard said, "Engineering isn't really my specialty, so I don't know all the details, but I do know that it's a prototype unlike anything the Alliance has in any of their current models."

This part fascinated Tali, as she's always been interested in the specs of the other species ships. She was about to ask more into this, but Shepard's omni-tool buzzed, indicating his weapon had arrived. He informed her that he'd only be a minute, then went to receive his purchase. After hearing more about the Normandy, Tali was starting to become excited to get there now. Not that she wasn't before, but before, the ship was a complete mystery. Hopefully she was allowed into the engineering room. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shepard walking out of the door to the Spectre requisitions, and, after asking if she needed any last minute things, lead her to the Normandy docking bays.

* * *

[Normandy docking bay]

Garrus and Wrex were exchanging in small talk, when Shepard and Tali walked out of the elevator. Shepard immediately saw Anderson and Udina, so he told Tali to wait with the turian and krogan as he walked over to them.

Udina noticed Shepard out of the corner of his eye, and put on a small smile, "I got big news for you, Shepard. Captain Anderson is stepping down as commanding officer of the Normandy. The ship is yours now." Shepard's eyes widened, and looked at Anderson, who nodded.

"She's quick and quiet, and you know the crew. Perfect ship for a Spectre," Anderson smiled, "Treat her well Commander."

Still processing all this, Shepard shook his head, "This isn't like you, sir. I want the truth. Why are you _really_ stepping down?

Anderson sighed quietly, "You needed a ship of your own Shepard. A Spectre answers only to the council. And it's time for me to step down."

"Come clean with me, Captain," Shepard said with a pleading look in his eyes, "You owe me that much."

Anderson paused for a few seconds, then brought his eyes back to Shepard's "I was in your shoes twenty years ago, David. They were considering me for the Spectres."

Shepard had a surprised look on his face "What? Why didn't you ever tell me this?"

"What was I supposed to say? "I could've been a Spectre but I blew it"?" Anderson paused for a moment, then sighed, "I failed, Shepard… It's not something I'm proud of. Ask me later and I'll tell you the full story. For right now all you need to know is I was sent on a mission with Saren and he made sure the council rejected me." He said, taking a moment to look at the city behind him, before looking back at Shepard "I had my shot. It came and went… Now you have a chance to make up for my mistakes."

"Alright, I won't let you down sir. I promise," Shepard said.

"Saren's gone. Don't even try to find him. But we know what he's after: the Conduit. He's got his geth scouring the Traverse looking for clues." Anderson said.

Udina cleared his throat, "We had reports of geth in the Feros system shortly before we lost contact with our colony there. And there have been sightings around Noveria."

"Find out what Saren was after on Feros and Noveria. Maybe you can figure out where the conduit is before he does." Anderson said.

"What about the Reapers? They're the real threat." Shepard said, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm with the council on this one, Shepard." Udina said, "I'm not sure they even exist."

"But if they _do_ exist, then the conduit's the key to bringing them back. Stop Saren from getting the conduit, and we stop the Reapers from coming back." Anderson said.

"I'll stop him." Shepard said with a serious tone, to which Anderson nodded.

"We have one more lead," Udina said, "Matriarch Benezia, the other voice on that recording? She has a daughter who specializes in the Protheans. We don't know if she's involved, but it might be a good idea to try and find her. Her name's Liara. Dr. Liara T'Soni. We have reports that she was exploring an archeological dig on one of the uncharted worlds in the Artemis Tau cluster."

"Alright, we'll head there first," Shepard said.

"It's your decision, Commander. You're a Spectre now. You don't answer to us," Anderson said.

"But your actions still reflect on humanity. _You_ make a mess and _I_ get stuck cleaning it up," Udina said, quick to clarify.

Shepard mentally rolled his eyes, "I'll try not to make your job any harder, Ambassador."

Udina smiled slightly, "Glad to hear it, Commander. Remember: you were a human long before you were a Spectre." With a final nod, Udina started for the elevator, saying "I have a meeting to get to."

"There's no time to waste." Shepard said, then turned to face the aliens, "You go on ahead inside, I'll be there in a minute."

Garrus, Tali and Wrex all obliged, and entered the ship.

Shepard turned to face Anderson, "Are you _really_ sure about this Anderson? I mean, I never figured you much for retirement,"

Anderson thought for a moment "Honestly? This isn't how I pictured my career coming to an end." He smiled, "Pushing papers isn't really my thing. But _you're_ the one who can stop Saren. I believe in you, Shepard. If that means I have to step aside, so be it."

"Well, thank you, sir. Really," Shepard said, shaking his hand "You don't know how much this means to me."

"No need to thank me, Shepard. Good luck out there," Anderson said, "I know wherever your father is, he's proud of you right now."


	4. The Long Drive

Shepard closed the door to his personal locker, having put away his weapons, and armor before it. As he goes up the stairs and into the CIC, he's hit with the familiar feeling he's become accustomed to over the past year, a feeling of home. He walked past the Galaxy Map, and towards his pilot. Joker turned his head to look at the Commander, "I heard what happened to Captain Anderson. Survives a _hundred_ battles, and then gets taken out by backroom politics." Joker turned back to the controls. "Just watch your back, Commander. Things go to shit on this mission, and you're next on their chopping block."

Shepard nodded, but didn't respond. Then he sighed, "Captain Anderson should be the one in charge. It just feels like I'm stealing his ship from him."

"Yeah, the captain got screwed," Joker said. "But it's not like _you_ could've done something to stop it. Nobody's blaming you on this." Joker let out a breath, "Everyone on this ship is behind you, Commander. One hundred percent." he looked up at Shepard, "Intercom's open. If you've got anything you wanna' say, now's the time to do it."

Shepard nodded and held down a button, "This is Commander Shepard. We have our orders: find the Conduit before Saren does. I won't lie to you crew, this mission won't be easy. Our enemy knows we're coming. When we go into the Traverse, Saren and his followers will be waiting for us. We all know what happened on Eden Prime. We saw the bodies and destruction they left behind. We know what they're capable of." Shepard stands up straight "But we'll be ready for them. Wherever Saren goes, we'll follow. Wherever he searches for the Conduit, we'll follow. We will hunt him down to the very ends of the galaxy and bring him down! The Council sent _us_ on this mission for a reason, because we're the only ones who can stop him. And I assure you we _will_ stop him."

"Well said, Commander," Joker said. "Captain would be proud."

Shepard turned around and started to walk away. "Fancy speeches won't stop Saren from finding the Conduit. If we really want to make the captain proud we better get this bird in the air and on route to Therum."

Joker nodded. "Yes sir!"

* * *

Shepard walked down the stairs and into the mess hall when Joker's voice chimed through the speakers, "Just entered the Artemis Tau Cluster, Commander. It'll take around an hour or two until we get to the Knossos System."

"Got it. Thanks Joker," Shepard said.

Shepard entered the mess hall and made his way to the kitchen area, grabbing a glass of water. As he closed the refrigerator door, Kaidan walked up to him and leaned on the cutting table.

"So, how did the meeting with the Council go, first human spectre?" he asked, grinning.

Shepard chuckled, "About as good as it can get, I suppose," he took a sip of his drink. "Anything exciting happen while I was gone?"

"Nah, not really. Ashley said a while ago that she'd gone down to look at the weapons, and I haven't seen her since. Then I went to lay down for a bit, rest up my head." Kaidan shrugged, "I did have an interesting chat with Pressly though."

Shepard looked back at the Lieutenant and took his drink away from his mouth, "Oh?"

"Yeah. He's _thrilled_ about the new crewmates," Kaidan said.

"Oh really?" Shepard said, detecting the sarcasm. He had known a little bit of how Navigator Pressly felt about aliens, but he didn't know how strongly Pressly felt on the subject. "What did he say?"

"Nothing too big of a deal," Kaidan said. "Just that he thought aliens shouldn't be on the ship, that this was a human matter, yadah yadah yadah." the Lieutenant rolled his eyes at the last part. "I don't think it'll be too much of an issue. You know how Pressly is."

That much was true. Pressly never liked to be too confrontational, especially towards superior officers, so Shepard also doubted that too much would come of it. "Still, it might be worth having a talk about it with him," the Commander said. "Speaking of our new guests, where are they?"

"When they came in through here, I brought them down to the cargo bay, told them the need-to-know stuff." Kaidan moved off the table, and towards the refrigerator. "I pointed that quarian girl, Tali, to the engineering room. She'd mentioned something about the drive core, so I just told her it'd be best to ask Engineer Adams about that stuff."

"Alright, thanks. It'll be a while till we get to our next mission, so it'd be a good idea to get to know them a bit," Shepard said. "I'll be doing just that if you need me."

Kaidan nodded and got something to eat. Shepard took the elevator down to the cargo bay. After the elevator door finally opened, Shepard entered the cargo bay, and to his immediate left was Wrex, who had taken a liking to an area by a couple crates. On one of the crates he had his weapons spread out, while on anther crate he had a couple of grenades sitting out on another one disassembled. Wrex himself was leaning on a third and final crate, looking over the cargo bay. Garrus, who was in the far corner of the cargo bay, was working on the M35 Mako's main cannon. Right beside the Mako was a terminal that was used to lock it in place. In front of the Mako was a variety of parts and tools. Just liked Kaidan said, over to the upper left was Gunnery Chief Williams, who was at the weapons locker, and was checking out the stock. One of the guns was taken apart, with components placed in neat clusters on a work bench.

Shepard walked up to Wrex, seeing as how he was the closest. As he approached, the krogan nodded and said "Shepard."

"Wrex," Shepard returned the gesture.

"Nice ship you got here. Looks like it can pack a punch for its size," Wrex said while glancing at the Mako.

"Yeah, she's one of the best that the Alliance has, and it's still only a prototype," he replied.

Wrex nodded, then after a few seconds asked, "Is there a reason you came down here, or did you just come down to make sure I wasn't lonely?"

Shepard chuckled at that, "No, no reason I suppose. Just wanted to check up on all of you, make sure you were settling in nicely."

Wrex glanced at his equipment. "Well I don't know about the others, but I've made myself comfy." He looked back at the Commander, "So where are we going next, Shepard? The Citadel was fun but I'm dying for a bit more action."

"We're on our way to Therum, to pick up Benezia's daughter, Liara."

Wrex scoffed, "Great, that's all we need. Some Asari lecturing us on how amazing they are." Then he mumbled, "They're more pain in the asses than anything."

Shepard smiled slightly, "Well either way, I'd rather have her on our side than Saren's."

"I guess so," Wrex said. "You're the commander here, Shepard. What you say goes. I'm just giving you my opinion."

Shepard nodded, "Alright, well I should go. I need to do some things before we get to Therum."

Wrex nodded, then leaned back against the crate, "Shepard."

Shepard decided to check on his turian crewmate, and walked the short distance to the Mako. Upon seeing the Commander heading towards him, Garrus paused his work and climbed off of the vehicle.

"Something wrong with the Mako?" Shepard asked, raising an eyebrow, curious as to what the turian was doing.

"Don't worry, Commander, the M35 works just fine," Garrus said. "When I was giving it a look over, I noticed some things that could be improved. And a good calibrating is always handy every now and then." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, thanks for bringing me on board, Commander. I knew working with a Spectre would be better than life at C-Sec."

"Oh? Do you have experience with other Spectres?" Shepard asked.

"Well, no. But I know what they're like. Spectres make their own rules. You're free to handle things your way," Garrus said "At C-Sec, you're _buried_ by rules. The damn bureaucrats are always on your back."

"Yeah, I can see how that would get annoying. But for the most part, the rules are there for a reason," Shepard said.

"Maybe," Garrus said "But it just feels like sometimes the rules are only there to stop me from doing my work. If I'm taking down a suspect, it shouldn't matter how I do it, as long as I do it." Garrus argued "But C-Sec wants it done _their_ way or the high way. Protocol and Procedure come first. _That's_ why I left."

Shepard leaned his shoulder on the wheel of the Mako. "So you left because you didn't like how they did things?"

"There's more to it than that," the former officer said "It didn't start off bad, but as I rose in ranks, I got saddled with more and more red tape. C-Sec's handling of Saren was typical. I just couldn't take it anymore. I hate leaving..."

Shepard nodded, understanding what Garrus meant "Well I hope you made the right choice. I'd hate for you to regret it later on."

"Well, that sort of why I teamed up with you," Garrus confessed. "It's a chance for me to get off the Citadel, see how things are down outside C-Sec. Either way, I plan to make the most of this," Garrus said, sounding a bit more happy during that last part "And without C-Sec headquarters looking over my shoulder, well, maybe I can get the job done _my_ way for once."

"Sounds good to me, as long as you follow orders," Shepard said.

"Of course, Commander. I didn't mean to imply otherwise," Garrus said.

"Glad to hear it," Shepard said. "So, what do you think of the target?"

"Saren? I think he's a disgraceful son of a bitch who needs to be taken down," the turian said, venom adding an edge to his words.

"Sounds a bit personal. You know him before hand?" Shepard asked.

"No, not really. It's just… I don't how it is in human culture, but with turians, if you betray an ally or abandon your post for no apparent reason, you're all but shamed. Now compare that to what Saren did… Well, let's just say we won't be too happy," he snickered quietly at his last comment.

"News of Saren's betrayal only just went public. Do you think the news will really spread that fast?" Shepard asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the first thing Councilor Sparatas did was contact the Primarch about this. I'm sure they'll try to keep this under wrap for as long as possible, but as humans say, news spreads like wildfire," Garrus said. "But either way, Saren's going to pay for what he did."

"Agreed," Shepard said. "Well I'll let you get back to your work. I'll talk to you later, Garrus."

Garrus nodded. "Again, thank you for letting me join Commander. You won't regret it."

Shepard smiled and returned the gesture, before turning around and heading towards the engineering room. As the left door to the engineering room opened, Tali turned around, and walked up to Shepard, almost running to him. Shepard held back a chuckle, as it reminded him of how a kid would act on Christmas.

"Your ship's _amazing_ Shepard! I've _never_ seen a drive core like this before! I can't believe you were able to fit it into a ship this small!" Tali exclaimed "I know you said this was a prototype, but I never thought it would be _this_ good!"

Shepard smiled, "Glad you like it. The Normandy's one of the best the Alliance has."

Tali shook her head lightly in disbelief. "A month ago, I was patching a makeshift fuel line into a converted tug ship in the flotilla. Now I'm sitting on board one of the most advanced ships in Citadel space!" She said "I-I have to thank you again for bringing me along. Traveling on a vessel like this is a dream come true for me."

"It's no problem. It's always good to have another helping hand," Shepard said. "I didn't know you were into ship technology."

"It comes with being a quarian. The migrant fleet is the key to the survival of my people. Ships are our most valuable resource. But we don't have anything like this. We make do with cast-offs and second-hand equipment. We just try to keep them running as long as we can," Tali said "Some of the Fleet's larger vessels date all the way back to our original flight from the geth."

"That was 300 years ago. I'm amazed they're still working," Shepard said.

"They're constantly being repaired, modified and refitted. They aren't pretty by any means, but they work for the most part. We've tried to make ourselves as independent as possible on the flotilla. Grow our own food, mine and process our own fuel," Tali explained. "But somethings we just can't make on our own. A patch to maintain the hull integrity requires raw materials we just don't have. That's why our pilgrimages is so important."

Shepard nodded in acknowledgment. "Alright, well I need to go prepare for our next mission. If you need me my cabin is right next to the mess hall."

"Okay. And Shepard," she added as he was about to leave. "Thank you. F-For giving me a chance."

Shepard smiled. "You don't have to thank me. I like to judge people based on who they are, not based on what species they are," With a final nod, he left the engineering room and entered the elevator to the mess hall.

Once the elevator door opened, he walked over to the Captain's cabin and entered. It looked the same as it did when Captain Anderson was in charge; a small desk immediately to the right, with a screen on the wall, just a few feet in front of it was a medium sized table, with two chairs, and in the back of the room was a good sized bed with two twin mattresses, along with another desk close by, and a terminal on the wall a few inches above it.

Shepard flopped onto the bed, and sighed. It had been a long twenty-four hours. He was still processing the events that occurred on Eden Prime, let alone the fact that _he_ was the captain of the Normandy now. Thinking back on it, he reminisced on what the geth did to those civilians, turning them into husks… It was horrific, but at the same time unbelievable.

How did those spikes mutate them so quickly? Had the geth's technology advance so far as to where they could change someone into a machine within seconds? He'd have to ask Tali about that, though he doubted that she would know. It's not like the quarians were in a position to monitor the geth for the past three hundred years.

As he thought about all this, his mind went back to the vision, and that massive ship. Was that one of these 'Reapers'? The machines that wiped out all intelligent life fifty thousand years ago? If so, how many of them are left? Shivers ran down Shepard's spine at the thought of hundreds of millions of those massive machines slaughtering everyone. Shepard rolled onto his left side to look at the clock. Overall twenty minutes had passed. Only forty minutes till they reach Therum. It'd be a good idea to get some rest, so that he isn't be sloppy during the mission. He whizzed his Omni-Tool over the clock, and set the alarm to thirty minutes. It wasn't much time, but it'll have to do...

* * *

[Normandy; Knossos System; Approaching Therum]

Shepard sat straight up, overwhelmed in a cold sweat, panting. Those images from the vision came back to him in a nightmare. Images of what looked like a city, machines and implants, and some kind of creatures... He rubbed his temples, pushing the memories out of his head. Just as he started to calm down, the speakers in his cabin suddenly activated, startling him.

"ETA around nine minutes, Commander," Joker said over the speakers.

"Right. Thanks Joker," Shepard said, turning to his right and entering his personal shower.

It was brief, only two minutes or so, but the cold water was much appreciated. Shepard put a pair of new clothes on, and walked out of the private cabin. As he made the short walk to the elevator, he turned to face Kaidan, who was talking with another crew member.

"Kaidan, suit up. You're gonna be accompanying me on Therum," he said.

The biotic nodded. "Aye aye sir." With that, the two humans entered the elevator.

As they exited the elevator, Shepard motioned for Garrus to gather his weapons and get in the Mako, and poked his head into the engineering room. "Tali, get your guns ready, you're coming with us."

"Y-Yes sir!" Tali said, surprised by Shepard's sudden announcement.

After quickly getting her weapons, Tali joined Shepard, Garrus and Kaidan inside the Mako. Shepard had gotten into the driver seat, and after making sure everything was in check, looked over his shoulder at his three other crewmates. "Kaidan, you'll be firing the guns. Tali, you're on repair duty in case we get damaged."

"What will I do, Commander?" Garrus asked.

Shepard smiled. "You'll be enjoying the ride."

Garrus rolled his eyes. "Wonderful," he mumbled. "Are you going to take me to dinner too?"

Before Shepard could come up with a witty comment of his own, Joker's voice came through the voice comm, "We're about to enter atmosphere, Commander. Opening cargo bay door."

Immediately after he said that, the door to the cargo bay opened, revealing a rocky, volcano-like world, over the surface, with pockets of lava scattered over the surface, with hundreds of active volcanoes spewing their smoke into the sky. The Mako engines roared to life as Shepard started the Alliance vehicle up. Tali gave him a confused look, but before she could ask what he was doing, Shepard slammed on the gas pedal, and drove the Mako out of the Normandy, down onto the molten world, much to Tali's shock and horror. The Mako descended down onto Therum, its stabilizers sparked to life and slowed the fall down. With the help of the Mako's stabilizers, the Alliance vehicle landed relatively safely in a flat area of the mountainous wasteland.

Once the dust from the impact cleared, Tali let go of the seat she was clutching onto, and looked at Shepard. "A little warning next time would be nice."

"Sorry," Shepard said with a smile. "I'll try my best to remember."

"Commander, I'm picking up some strange readings. _really_ strange. Like, off the damn charts," Joker said over the comms as Shepard started to drive down a path, if it could be called that, with a lake of flowing lava on his left, and man-made tubes on his right. "It looks like it's coming from an underground complex a few klicks away from the dropzone."

As Shepard drove the Mako down the path, taking a few turns and going up a hill with dust trailing from the back tires, the ground started to vibrate ever so slightly. Not long after Shepard took notice of this, a giant geth dropship flew over top them, and made a sharp turn to the right, launching two Geth Armatures from the bottom of it. Once the dust cleared and the Armatures got into sight, Kaidan started up the machine gun, firing rapidly at the first one, before firing the Mako's main cannon, doing a great deal of damage. With a little more fire from the machine gun, the first one was destroyed. But before they could turn around a focus fire on the second Armature, it fired its cannon at the Mako, taking down it's shield.

Shepard cursed under his breath, before backing up. "Whatever you do, don't stop firing, got it?" When Kaidan nodded, Shepard slammed on the gas pedal, heading right towards the Armature. When Kaidan had the armature almost whittled down, Shepard rammed it at full speed, running it over and destroying it.

"Keelah, I don't think anyone's ever _run over_ an Armature before," Tali said, surprised at the Commanders actions.

"Well, first time for everything," Shepard said. "Besides, I have a feeling we'll be doing that a lot in the future."

As Shepard started to track back up the path they were going on, Kaidan spoke up, taking his eyes off the radar. "Commander, we might want to be careful up ahead. I'm getting enemy signatures right on the edge of the radar."

"Got it," Shepard said.

Shepard cautiously drove the Mako up the bumpy hill, taking a careful left, and sure enough, off in the distance was a geth controlled base. "I don't think we can take that stronghold head on," Kaidan said. "It might be a good idea to go around and flank 'em."

The Commander did just that, taking a route that was most likely cleared by the miners and archaeologists here on their right. Once they entered the small mining area, which was cluttered with small mining tubes that connected to the mountain closest to it, they took out a nearby geth turret, then followed the trail, which was just big enough to fit the Mako. After they exited the other side of the pathway and got into the stronghold, they were greeted by multiple geth units, who were armed with anti-air weapons. The Mako team was able to make quick work of the geth outside, only taking minor damage to the middle right wheel.

Shepard turned the engines off and went outside, along with Kaidan and Garrus, while Tali made repairs. Right when Shepard stepped outside, the heat and humidity hit him instantly.

"Damn, it's like an oven out here," Kaidan commented.

"Yeah, even for me it's a bit hot," Garrus said.

"Let's get those gates open then," Shepard said. "I'd like to spend as little as humanly possible out here."

Shepard exhaled through his nose, and led the team towards the back gate. The sooner they could get back to the Mako the better. Shepard entered the gate control house, followed by Garrus and Kaidan, and cautiously walked towards the controls, each clank his footsteps made sounded louder than the last to him. The second he turned the corner, he heard some type of synthetic call, and a rocket came right at him. "Shit!" Shepard swore, diving away from the rocket, which made a small explosion against the metal wall. Kaidan quickly threw the geth against the wall behind it, effectively pinning it against the building, while Garrus got out his sniper rifle and shot the geth right in its eye.

Garrus, who was closest to Shepard, extended his hand. "You okay, Commander?"

"Fine, thanks," Shepard said, grabbing the turian's hand and standing back up. "Wasn't really expecting it to have a rocket launcher."

"Didn't know you were so good with the sniper Garrus," Kaidan said.

Garrus smirked "I _am_ pretty good, I suppose."

Kaidan smiled and rolled his eyes, while Shepard walked to the controls and pressed a button, making the gate creek open. When he and the others left the building, Tali was just finishing her repairs on the wheel.

"All done Commander. The damage wasn't too bad, just needed to tighten some loose bolts," she informed him.

Shepard smiled at her, "Good job Tali."

With that, they all got back into the Mako and continued their drive to the marker that Joker had set for them. Once they went through the gate, they entered a much more open area, with a big lake of lava to their left, bubbling ever so slightly with a faint layer of steam rising from it. On their right was more of the tubes they saw before, going in and out of the mountains, presumably to mine their resources.

Off in the distance were two more Armatures, who had began firing at them the second the Mako entered their sights. Shepard maneuvered the tank from right to left, dodging their attacks while Kaidan fired its machine guns at the closest one, destroying it right when they reached it. As they continued onto their next target, Tali made some minor repairs that the armature caused.

This armature, however, had better shields then the last, allowing it to take more damage from the firepower of the Mako. As Shepard drove closer to it, the path got thinner, and he noticed the a much smaller pool of lava to his right, that curved around behind the Armature. Shepard grinned, then drove straight towards the Armature, mimicking what he did during the fight with the first batch.

"Keelah, here we go again..." Tali said as she grabbed her seat, preparing herself for the impact.

Shepard rammed the Armature head on, knocking it into the pool of lava behind it, melting it within seconds. Despite holding onto the seat in front of him, the impact nearly jolted Garrus out of his seat. _'_ _Spirits, do all humans drive like this?'_ he wondered.

Shepard let out a breath, "I think that went well."

"Define 'well'," Kaidan said, readjusting himself in his seat.

"Well as in we didn't end up in the lava with it," Shepard said. "Damage report?"

"Everything looks good, Commander," Tali said, then paused her work to look at Shepard. "Considering we rammed _two_ geth in less than an hour."

Shepard smiled and rolled his eyes, turning the Mako left into another open area, with more Armatures on the other side of the mined wasteland. "More enemies in the distance, Commander," Kaidan said.

"Alright, wait till we get closer, then start firing," Shepard said.

Kaidan nodded "Aye aye."

"Wouldn't it be better to take them out from afar?" Garrus asked. "If we get in the right spot we could take 'em out with the cannon from here."

"I'd rather wait until I know we can deal some damage, then try and snipe them and have a fifty/fifty chance of missing," Shepard said.

Garrus nodded, "Alright, you're the commander here."

Just like the ones before them, the team of four were able to take out the Armatures, with only a few scrapes and dents. As they drove through a small pathway, they came across more ground units, and one big geth. It looked like an Armature, but twice the size. It spoke in the same way the geth in the gate control building did, but in a much deeper tone. Immediately after, it fired it's main weapon, which seemed to be a plasma cannon, at them. Shepard reversed, and once the dust cleared from the impact of the plasma cannon hitting the ground, Kaidan starting firing the main cannon at the colossus geth. But this one was much stronger than the Armatures, in turn having better shields. To take out the shields, Kaidan switched to the machine gun, which took out them out faster than the cannon.

Shepard sped past the colossus, hitting one of it's legs, knocking it down. Once he was far enough away, Shepard made a 180 turn, allowing Kaidan to fire the cannon directly at the body armor, severely damaging it. The geth colossus quickly got up, but before it could turn around and continue to its attack, Kaidan fired the cannon at its body one last time, penetrating the armor, before opening up again with the machine gun, focusing on the cannon's impact point. Within seconds, they had fatally wounded it, and it collapsed, making a slight thud as it fell to the ground.

Once the battle was over, Shepard put the Mako in reverse, ready to turn around and continue on the path, when they hit what seemed like three or four people behind them, a crunching sound following suit. "Oops," Shepard said, as they heard the faint muffles of geth speaking from under them.

"What is it with you and running geth over?" Tali asked.

Shepard shrugged, "Hey, it's not my fault that they got in the way."

The Commander turned the vehicle around and went up a ramp that led to a tunnel that bored through a mountain, presumably made by archeologists. After a couple turns, they finally reached the other side, but were greeted by a couple geth ground units. Before the geth knew what hit them, Kaidan fired the main cannon, taking all them out in one hit.

They proceeded through another tunnel, fighting more geth in the process, until they came across a blocked route. Luckily, there was just enough room for them to fit through on foot, so begrudgingly, they exited the Mako, and trekked on on-foot. "Great, just when I thought we wouldn't have to go back out here," Kaidan said.

"Hopefully we won't have to walk too far," Shepard said.

One by one they squeezed through the fissure, with Shepard taking the lead. Due to the space being so confined, around halfway through the rocks started to scrape Shepard's armor slightly, just enough to scratch the paint on his armor. Apart from the confined space, it went relatively smooth.

They didn't get too far until they came across a geth outpost stationed on a small slope. They all used the fallen rubble as cover, and started firing upon the geth up the hill. Since they outnumbered the geth by one, they made quick work of them, and moved up the hill, taking a small pathway which swerved to the left. Almost immediately after Shepard rounded the corner, he came across another geth outpost, this one having a sniper perch. Shepard quickly got to cover before the geth sniper could fire upon him, the other three following suit.

Shepard looked over his shoulder at Garrus as he switched his pistol out for a Lancer. "Garrus, stay back here and take care of the sniper. We'll push up and take out the others."

"Got it Commander," Garrus said, then smiled. "Have fun."

The turian brought up his sniper rifle, and rested it on the rock he was using as cover. He lowered his head so that his eye was with the scope, and took aim at the geth sniper up ahead. Right as the geth noticed him, and focused his aim towards the turian, Garrus shot the geth, killing it, sending it plummeting to the ground below. Shepard, Kaidan and Tali moved up the hill, going from cover to cover, killing any synthetic in sight.

After they took out the remaining geth and Garrus caught up with them, they headed towards what looked to be an open garage-like shelter, with a tunnel that led into the mountain nearby to their right.

As Shepard slowly moved forward, leading the team to the tunnel, an eerie silence fell over the area. Not the sounds of nearby lava bubbling and flowing. Not the sounds of mountains off in the distance rumbling. It was completely silent. "Anybody else get the feeling we're being… watched?" Kaidan asked as he scanned the area. As if on queue, the noise of footsteps colliding with the metal walkways above them cut through the quiet atmosphere.

Shepard looked up at the source of the noise, and saw some type of geth looking creature hanging from the bottom of the walkway drop down. It looked like a mix between a geth and a frog, but moved like an insect. It jumped onto a wall on their left, and crawled up it. Just after this, a ship was heard soaring through the sky behind them, vibrating the air as it moved.

All four of them turned around and saw a giant geth dropship fly above their heads, geth dropping from the bottom of it, just like the Armatures did. Each geth made a thud as they landed, dust rising from the impact. A much larger thud followed shortly after, the last geth rising to its 'feet' as it stared down at Shepard's team. Shepard squinted his eyes, trying to see through the light layer of dust that had formed from its impact. When the dust subsided, his eyes widened slightly. "Shit," he mumbled, finally recognizing the geth as an armature.

While they made quick work of these things while in the Mako, taking one out on foot would be a different story. They all took cover behind a few crates to the left of them, as the geth began their assault.

"You just had to say it, didn't you?" Garrus said as he fired his Lancer at the geth.

As a rocket whizzed past the crate Shepard was behind, the Commander looked in the direction of his team. "Alright, here's the plan. Tali, Kaidan, take out those geth bugs on the walls. Garrus, take out the other geth here. I'll damage the armature and give us time to take it out."

Kaidan nodded, as he and Tali started firing at the geth 'insects on the walls', while Garrus sniped the geth shock troopers. As he made his way deeper into the garage, Shepard remembered something. He pulled out the two grenades he had bought while on the Citadel, and looked at them for a few seconds. Coming up with an idea, he clenched onto them, and put them back on his hip.

He crouched down, and peeked his head around the wall. He saw that the Armature was still attacking the others. Bringing his arm back, he threw the two grenades at the geth, both of them sticking to its back right leg. A couple seconds later, they blew up and severely damaged its leg. The armature said something in its language, and collapsed. A couple seconds later, it got back up, and slowly turned around, focusing fire on Shepard. Due to amount of firepower, the commander had to stay behind the wall, occasionally getting shots in on it.

This left the armature open for Kaidan, Tali and Garrus to attack it, damaging it even further. Right when the geth was about to turn around and fire at them instead, Shepard threw one last grenade at its eye. When the grenade blew up, it completely destroyed its eye, a few static bolts coming out from where the eye was. Soon after, the armature fell to the ground for the final time.

Shepard put his gun away, and wiped off a light layer of sweat as his team approached him. "Good job back there. All of you," the Commander said with a little smile.

"You too, Commander," Garrus said. "Guess I can check off 'take out a geth armature on foot' on my to-do list."

"That was pretty impressive," Tali said. "Though I hope we don't make a habit of this."

Shepard chuckled at that, "No promises." Then he looked towards the mineshaft. "Alright, let's get it in there and get Dr. T'Soni."

"Aye aye sir," Kaidan said, then sighed quietly. "I hope it'll be cooler in there than it is out here."

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 **Hey guys. Sorry this chapter took so long to make.**

 **Hopefully next chapter will get made and published faster than this one :D**

 **Anyway, you know the deal. Feel free to leave a review, as they're always appreciated, but no senseless hate please ~**


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